The invention relates to a method of monitoring the location of a mining vehicle in a mine, the method comprising: driving at least one mining vehicle during one work cycle at least in a first work area and in a second work area of the mine; determining data on the location of the mining vehicle in the mine; transferring said location data to a mine control system; employing, in location data transfer, a data communication connection communicating with the mine control system; and employing the obtained location data in the mine control system for monitoring the operation of the mining vehicle.
The invention further relates to a system for monitoring the location of a mining vehicle in a mine, the system comprising: a first work area and a second work area in the mine, in which areas the mining vehicle is arranged to drive during one work cycle; at least one measuring device for determining the distance travelled by the mining vehicle, and further at least one measuring device for determining the direction of the mining vehicle; a mine control system; at least one control unit arranged in the mining vehicle; at least one data transfer connection for data transfer between the control unit of the mining vehicle and the mine control system; and in which system: location data of the mining vehicle are arranged to be transferred via the data transfer connection from the mining vehicle to the mine control system.
Different mining vehicles are used in a mine, such as rock drilling rigs, loading vehicles and transport vehicles. The mining vehicles may be manned or unmanned, and they can be equipped with measuring devices suitable for determining the location. In severe mining conditions, measuring error may easily occur, which makes the location determination inexact. This being so, the location of the mining vehicles operating in the mine cannot be monitored sufficiently accurately.